Drake Relays

I went to Drake Relays! I threw the javelin. I hung out with my family! I came home.

Those were my emotions this weekend. I was excited to go to the meet, but for some reason not that pumped about actually throwing my implement. I wanted to throw far, but the process of actually using my body to do it was somehow boring once I arrived at the competition venue.

I couldn't (or wouldn't) get my energy up and hold my technique together simultaneously.

By the end of my six throws, I was moving decently fast on the runway, but nothing held solid at the end of my approach to give the javelin any energy. I ended up throwing 57.74m (189'5") on my final attempt. I had two other 57m throws, and one farther sector foul (when the javelin lands outside its designated target area, which is large).

I know what I need to fix. In the meet, I tried to focus on all of the technical things we have been working on in practice. The problem was that I tried to focus on all of the technical things we have been working on in practice! When I get to a competition, I need to have laser focus on a few very important technical cues, and execute them to the best of my ability. I simply am out of practice at that kind of mindset, and I'm excited to get back to it in practice in the next few weeks.

I also think that it is extremely important to always be thinking about where you want to end up. At Drake, I was just throwing to throw at Drake. I didn't have a fire in my belly about hitting this season's distance goal or competing simply to throw the farthest I possibly could or preparing myself to throw at USAs/Worlds to the best of my ability. Striving to constantly be better is something that I always want to do, but an idea I forgot about last Friday.

Moving on. :) It has been confirmed that I will compete in the first women's javelin Diamond League event in Rome, Italy on May 26! I'm really looking forward to it, because last year I missed out on the first two Diamond League meets for my event. It will be really nice to begin the race on the actual starting line this year!

Prefontaine Classic

Firstly, Happy 4th of July!!!!! And happy birthday to my good friend Jim :).

Today I competed in my first Diamond League event of the season, the 36th Annual Prefontaine Classic. I have to say, this meet is amazing!! Russ threw at Pre in 2007, and I was lucky enough to travel to Eugene, Oregon with him to watch.

I was amazed then, and I was blown away today!

With so many awesome performances all around the track and in the field, I admit that it was a little difficult to focus on my own event. Just check out the results and press coverage on the website! So cool to be around!

I arrived at the track around 11:00am (I caught the shuttle this time!), checked in my javelins, and headed over to hammer to watch Britney throw! I didn't get to see last weekend's hammer competition, so I wanted to make sure I at least glimpsed it. She finished fifth! Our Canadian friend Sultana Frizell threw for third :). I watched the whole hammer competition! It was possible because the field was small and the meet was high-energy. Awesome!

After hammer, I laid down for a few minutes. I checked in, warmed up, reported to the tent, warmed up on the field, and was ready to go! At these bigger meets, sometimes things take a little bit longer to get accomplished. They take the field out to the runway earlier and there's another event going on, so you have to wait to throw. There's a lot going on on the track, so you have to wait to be introduced. At a meet as big as World Championships or the Olympics, there might even be a national anthem playing, and nothing goes on when that happens; respect! :).

The waiting game shouldn't take away from your performance, though. I try to use it to relax.

The competition ended up going well! At first, the whole field struggled. There were only six of us javelin thrower girls, so things went quickly once throwing commenced. We had a typical Hayward Headwind, as expected, and my technique wasn't quite ready for it today! I figured it out by the end, though, and threw 65.90m on my last toss. Yay!

I ended up...first! In my first Diamond League!

Results here. I'm stoked. I didn't get a 61-meter throw in my first three, which is always my goal, but I'm glad to have followed last weekend up with another big distance.

Oregon track and field fans are always awesome, and today they did not disappoint.

It's really inspiring to be down on the field when a close race is egged on by the crowd, and it's fantastic to be cheered on by 12,000 strong. Wow.

On to Vancouver, B.C. after a day of rest at home in Vancouver, Washington! Side note: Nani and Nio (the family dogs) are getting SO old. I cried a little when Nani tottered up to me. They are still themselves though!